Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus useful for displaying messages, and specifically to such method and apparatus which will provide for a highly portable, lightweight, inexpensive yard sign.
Prior Art
Lightweight signs, and in particular, yard signs, are currently in wide use and have been in use since antiquity. Some such signs are more or less of a permanent nature, while others such as those used in real estate sales, political campaigns, construction, manufacturer's product identification, and garage sales, are employed for a short time only.
Of the temporary class of yard sign, the most common types employ one or more support legs or posts, a sign holding frame attached to the legs, and one or more sign faces. They are generally constructed out of wood, however, some less temporary signs used in real estate sales employ metal frames and metal or plastic sign faces.
All of the prior art signs suffer, however, from one common fault in that the cost of the sign increases as the sign is made more durable. Also, as the conventional yard signs do not allow the desired message to be inexpensively changed, their usefulness is limited.
Some examples of prior art signs may be found by reference to the following U.S. Pat. No's; 2,064,240; 2,072,573 and 2,022,160.
In addition, conventional signs and in particular, those signs utilizing two or more posts, require at least two people to place them in the ground. And signs which use only one post are subject to the wind turning and general instability in use. It may also be noted that it is extermely difficult for one person to insert a conventional yard sign in frozen ground.
Most yard signs are cumbersome unwieldy and occupy a great deal of space in storage and during transportation. They also suffer from a lack of support on their edges which make the sign faces difficult to install and remove, and which permit a great deal of flexure in the sign face which leads to the fraying and tearing thereof.
Consequently, there exists a need for a yard sign that is durable, inexpensive, capable of many applications, easily inserted in the ground by one person, and stable in high winds.